Challenging Government plans for our universities

I outlined my concerns about the Higher Education and Research Bill in Parliament during the Parliamentary debate on the principles in the Bill (see here) and then joined the Public Bill Committee going through the Government’s planned reforms line by line for two months. While we secured some reassurances, all of the amendments moved by me and my Labour colleagues on the Bill Committee were rejected by the Government. But our efforts to improve the Bill didn’t stop there. We pressed them again at Report Stage in the Commons (see my speech here) and then with colleagues in the House of Lords, where we secured important amendments. Unfortunately the unexpected decision to call a General Election meant that we lost the chance to debate the amendments and the Bill went into a procedure called ‘wash-up’ for outstanding legislation.

Below is a summary of the issues I’ve particularly taken up with the Government.

The proposed Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) and fee increases

The Bill sets out a new framework for assessing teaching in universities, but with my Labour colleagues I challenged the Government on its plans to link TEF ratings with tuition fee increases.

The Government claims to want to double the proportion of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds entering higher education from 13.6% in 2009 to 28% in 2020. But I have concerns it won’t meet its targets, and I proposed changes to the Bill to strengthen measures to widen participation.

The Government wants to shake up the system by making it easier for new providers, including commercial operators, to set up universities. It hasn’t provided convincing evidence of the benefits, but wants to relax the rules for new providers to get the power to award degrees. This comes with huge risks for students who might be at an institution that turns out not to be up to scratch, or who have already got their degree from one that subsequently loses its university title or degree-awarding power. We challenged these changes and, learning from experiences of companies buying out universities in the US, I proposed an amendment to the Bill to make sure that if a university changes ownership, the regulator automatically reviews its right to grant degrees, to ensure we keep on top of who’s running our universities. Again, it was rejected by Government, but we did secure some concessions to strengthen the process in the ‘wash up’.

International students

I’ve led activity in Parliament to change the Government’s approach to international students (see here) who create thousands of jobs and enrich our universities. I used the opportunity of the Bill to table an amendment, seeking to take them out of net migration targets as a first step towards developing a more positive approach to their recruitment. My amendments was defeated in the Commons, but Lord Hannay took the issue up and won strong support for an amendment which sought to achieve this objective. I was confident we could win support for it in the Commons, but the chance to vote was lost because of the election and the Government refused any meaningful compromise in the ‘wash up’. I will continue to push the issue.

Although the Government opposed my amendment in the Commons, Lord Dubs took it up in the Lords where they compromised by extending that right to Syrians who had come to the UK under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement programme, which accounted for most of those affected.

Voter registration

Building on my work with the University of Sheffield and with Sheffield Hallam University to give students the option to register to vote when they enrol at university, I proposed an amendment to the Bill to make this a requirement in all universities. Again, the Government refused to amend its Bill, but Labour Peer Baroness Royall won an amendment in the Lords which aimed to require universities to adopt the ‘Sheffield model’. The Government continued to oppose it, but we did secure a concession to require universities to work with Electoral Registration Officers in local councils.